Back to Woodlands for Counties
PRs a plenty as harriers run wild
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| start of the boys' varsity race |
At the start of the season in September, we didn't even know that Woodlands had a cross country course, much less that we would be running there three times this season. The third time was today for the Westchester County Championship. The Woodlands coaching staff and grounds crew did a great job preparing the course and it looked great. Colorful flag lined lanes and the leaves of autumn trees lit up in the late October sun made a beautiful stage for the day's competition. The Hamilton harriers were hoping that the third time on the course would be the charm for them, and they turned out not to be disappointed.
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| Mikayla, our top finisher of the day |
As always the girls team was led by Mikayla whose 18th place finish in the freshmen race was the highest finishing place of any of our runners today. Following Mikayla were Naomi who cruised to her best 1.5 mile run of the season. Hot on her heels was Rachel who had her best race of the season as well. This was the last time any of our freshmen will run the shorter distance and our girls decided to make the most of it. Erin was the last of our girls across the line today, but she finished giving it everything she had. She held off two runners who were closing on her at the very end of the race and that extra effort carried her to her personal best time at the 1.5 distance as well.
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| Naomi PRs |
The freshmen boys, seeing how well the girls did, couldn't wait to get the line. This was freshman Lowell Pierrette's last chance to claim the Hamilton boys' freshmen 1.5 mile
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| Lowell after his new record |
record. He rose to the occasion, finishing strong he was able to complete the course in 10:49. 8th grader, Mike Napoli, was our next runner to cross the line, and he shaved almost three minutes off of his previous best finishing with an 11:45. Hopefully, he'll be back next year to take a crack at Lowell's new record.
We had only one runner in the girls' varsity race today, and that was Lily. Keeping the PR day going, Lily raced to a 31:12, her best 5K yet.
The boys varsity race was our last race of the day and the PRs weren't over yet. Running with some of the fastest runners in the state Luciano and Aden both ran strong races very close to their season bests. Stevie B. and Jonathon though had that little bit extra to push themselves to their personal bests. Steveen covered the course in 20:20, our team's second best time this season. Jonathon ended with a very impressive final 500m kick that pushed him to a 23:34.
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| Jonathon gets better every week |
Although none of our teams were able to figure in the team scoring today, it was a perfect last tune up for next Saturday's Section 1 Championship meet at Bowdoin Park. Who knows? Next year's state qualifier might very likely be held at Woodlands Park. After our performances I would say that Hamilton would have no problem with that. See you next week.
